Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Majat Code
Publisher: Angry Robot (February 25, 2014)
Author Information: Website
Mogsy's Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
When I look back at Blades of the Old Empire all I can think of is, here is an example of a novel which would've been better served with some major polishing. And did you know this isn't even technically the first book? I didn't. I only found out after I did some digging around, because I couldn't help getting this feeling I was missing something...
Turns out, my instincts were
correct. Most of the main characters in here were first introduced in
one of Kashina's earlier novels, The First Sword. Information like that
should have been made clearer, if only because I may have been more
lenient when I was reading this book. This isn't the first time I've
jumped in into the middle of a series, or even a spin-off or later novel
set in an existing universe without reading the previous books first.
The only difference is, all those times I was prepared. Quite honestly, I
don't even know how well this book works as the beginning of a new
series. Sure, you can read it and still understand the story, but I
spent most of the time feeling like I've only scratched the surface, and
wondered if so much feels lacking because the author expects you to
know these things already.
Hence, polish. I'm
afraid the character development needs quite a bit of work, especially
if you're going to have multiple romantic subplots. If I can't connect
to the characters, I'm not going to feel any chemistry, and then it's
not going to matter one whit to me who's crushing on whom. It helps
also, if I can get a good bead on your main protagonists' approximate
ages right away. Not exactly sure why, but the way this was written, I
spent the whole intro of the book thinking Prince Kyth was a young
child. Even after I realized my mistake, it was difficult to view Kara
as his romantic interest, and not a nanny-type figure.
Needless to say, that was a mood-killer.
For
a fantasy novel of this type, there was also nowhere near enough
context. By all rights, the story itself should have been quite epic,
encompassing a long history and involving several kingdoms hanging in
the balance, with conspiracy and corruption threatening to rot the system from the inside out. I knew this, but only because the book told me. I didn't
actually feel it. An overall sense of vastness and importance seems to
be missing. Despite the characters traveling for days to get from one
place to another, the scope of their journey feels small, possibly
stemming from a lack of world building.
My
opinions notwithstanding, the reason why I'm not giving this a lower
rating is because I feel this book has plenty of potential. I enjoyed
the premise and it had a lot of good ideas, especially when it comes to
the magic. If only it had been explained a little better. Rigorous
editing and several more drafts could have perhaps improved things,
knocking out some of the redundant phrases (there seems to be an
inordinate amount of blood streaking out of the corner of people's
mouths, for instance -- the author likes to use this description
everywhere, and even three times in one short scene), or toning down
some of the more absurd battle sequences.
Being
over-the-top can sometimes work in your favor, but this is not that
kind of novel. At best, this crazy, overly bombastic martial arts stuff
comes off as comical. The Diamonds are too
powerful, one fighter taking on dozens of enemies at once, and also
somehow surviving the most grievous of wounds. I draw the line when a
character can miraculously come back from the dead, and the way it
happens makes very little sense. There is no perception of danger or
tension, not if every close call can be fixed with a quaff from a magical potion or a
touch from a healer.
Giving a middling rating
for this, because I neither liked it nor particularly disliked it. To
summarize, the book has a raw and unfinished feel, and based on that I
can't really recommend it. A shame too, because with some fleshing out
and more honing-plus-fine-tuning, this book could have been so much
more.
A review copy of this book
was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Angry Robot Books!
Interesting, I knew this was not the authors debut, but I had no idea there was an earlier book in this world. AndI really agree this could have been a much better book with more editing revising,the premise wasn't bad, but the execution needs work.
ReplyDeleteI believe her previous books may have been self published or small press. That these characters were introduced in an earlier book would have been helpful to know, if anything people might want to check out that book before they tackle this one.
DeleteI've noticed that on a couple of the Angry Robot books I've read lately. That I felt they could have been so much better with more editing.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a major issue for me if I didn't ever feel like the lives of the characters were in peril. To me that smacks of video gaming - where you know you likely won't ever die because hey let me just pop this heal potion right as my hit points drop super low. That just doesn't fly in a fantasy novel.
You've got some very legitimate concerns here. I hate not knowing going in that I might be missing more of the story that was put up somewhere else.
And frankly it CAN be done well. For instance The Scroll of Years has several short stories where the characters were introduced. Yes I felt like I should have known them better when I started the book but as I eased in I did come to know them by the end. But if that feeling stays with you that you're constantly feeling like you should know something ...that can really ruin things for you.
You're right, The Scroll of Years is a very good example of a book that does it well. There was context, there was history between the characters that we got to feel right away, and there was a plenty of lore to fill the world. I felt equipped to take on this new book, despite not having read the short stories.
DeleteLike I said, with this one I felt that we only got to scratch the surface. It wouldn't have taken that much either. There was so much dialogue and action in this, a few instances of fleshing out the world and characters could have gone a long way.
This is the second two-star review I've read from bloggers I trust, which makes me doubly glad I didn't request this title. So sorry, it sure sounds good and the cover makes it feel epic. I do think AR needs to step up their editing in some cases, because I agree with Tabitha. Some recent AR/SC reads have felt too long and not tightly enough written.
ReplyDeleteYeah, for the most part I enjoy everything AR/SC publishes! Which might explain why it's like an extra downer whenever I come across one that looks like it needs some tweaking. Good thing it doesn't happen often though.
DeleteI was supposed to know some of these characters? Might explain why I had no idea who the guy shacking with forest goddess was or why he was important.
ReplyDeleteRight, Alder seemed like someone who needed a lot more attention, considering rather important role he was given with the goddess of the forest and nature. There was definitely something big missing there, and that's actually a pretty good example of what I meant by missing context.
DeleteYou remembered his name! You win!
Delete